69 replies to this topic

[MobyP]

Finally - a good use for the Ducasse veal jus - in a Ducasse/degusto/Jackal influenced recipe. Sauteed new season Aparagus with a white wine mousseline sauce and veal jus.

[MobyP]

I just realised that there are no jerusalem artichokes in this book. Isn't that a bit odd, coming from a bastion of modern classical cuisine?

[John Whiting]

Here's an interesting response from a cookery book dealer:

I am  writing about two things here one is the abundance of reprints or
revised books  so far this year, as in glorious american food. and others like
smokestack  lighting. the other is this culinary encyclopedia of ducasse,
alain. i really wanted to go thru  it before i said anything but i cant i  am too
overwhelmed,  i told myself i would not buy another food  encyclopedia, but  i
didnot know i would get the opprotunity to buy this  one. so its 7 lbs and its
$250.00 thats around 35.00 a lb. first time i ever  placed a value on a food
book by the pound. what it is is a recpie book!!  mary tried to look up coq
au vin and there was no defination, so it isnt an  encylopedia at all, so what
do i do with it? its to big to lug around the  kitchen, and i cant put it on
where the cat can walk on it, i could lock it up  in  a safe and  save it for
the next generation. but i dont have  anyone to give it to.. we cant even
understand half the ingredients for the  stuffing in a chicken leg, he refers to
chicken liquid as the juice of a  chicken! who ever heard of sweetbreads in a
poultry stuffing? not me, but  then  im just a simple farm boy from oklahoma,
not even qualified to  read this book, its going to take one of you big foodies
to write about this  one, of course its well done and  it even gives the
instructions for  presentation?  what it does not give is definations, i guess if
you  have to ask you dont need this book, there is a person who is qualified
to own  this but i dont know them.. so much for me reading this book cover to
cover,  when i cant  even pronounce most of the  ingredients, which if you
made one item from  this book, you would need the whole day.

[chefzadi]

what it does not give is definations, i guess if
you  have to ask you dont need this book, there is a person who is qualified
to own  this but i dont know them.. so much for me reading this book cover to
cover,  when i cant  even pronounce most of the  ingredients, which if you
made one item from  this book, you would need the whole day.

My school library has ordered this book at my request. I will be using parts of it for "The French Connection" (The language, history, terroir and culinary terms club I lead).

True I don't need the book, I already understand the book so I will be a tutor for the book...

It seems like the book needs a supplement or an old school trained French chef instructor as a tutor. The supplement is more cost effective.

[MobyP]

White asparagus with braised morels, an idea taken from the book.

[erica graham]

Have just received the first of three of Ducasse' culinary dictionaries translated into English- a bit painful at £156, but my husband is already calling it gastroporn of the highest quality- I was wondering if anyone else had caused thier postman to have a hernia yet?? If so what do you think?

[Pweaver1984]

Erica seems like you sepnt a little over the odds on your edition?
Check this link if u dare?!

Ducasse Book

Cheers


Paul

[erica graham]

Thats the last time I use Restaurant magazine as a reference for book shopping!!
I was really enjoying the feeling of aching arms from carrying it around, thinking, well you do get a lot of book for your money!!

[Jonathan Day]

I've just been to a cooking class at the Moulin de Mougins. This one was "autour d'agneau", things to do with lamb, and the instructor made a jus d'agneau.

The technique was not unlike what Moby describes, but there were differences. He used lamb bones and lots of meat scraps, plus garlic and herbs. Once they had browned quite a bit, he added butter -- lots of butter, more butter than I could have imagined. He then browned the mixture in this butter until the meat was beautifully coloured. The aroma was heavenly.

Then, he strained the whole thing, saving the butter, which had turned a light brown (noisette) colour. The meat, bones and vegetables went back into the pan, and he added fond blanc (white stock) and fond de veau (veal stock). He simmered this for a long time, then strained it thoroughly. The colour of the jus, by this time, was rich and brown, but he reduced it heavily.

Then, at the last minute, he corrected the salt, and added back some of the butter, which he said held a lot of the flavour from the original browning. The resulting jus was rich, dark brown, and well flavoured but not heavy.

I tried this later on, and it worked well. The flavour was good before the final butter went in, but the butter rounded it out and gave it depth. And because the butter had been removed from the original browning, it was easy to control the amount that went in, so that the jus wasn't overly fatty.

A promising approach, I think.

[Jake LA]

So I've recently started working for a chef professionally that suggested I get Ducasse's book, and I believe it was this one, I already checked out 'L'Atelier' from a library but was just wondering how 'Grand Livre' compared to 'Flavors of France' with Linda Dannenberg, are they completely different books or similar in scope? 'Grand Livre' runs about 10 times the price on Amazon but that's new and 'Flavors' would be used... Any input would be appreciated.

Edited by Jake LA, 06 August 2011 - 02:46 PM.